Biting the Big Apple: Celebrated Smithfield dog to compete at Westminster in New York, hobnob with opera star

Following in the paw prints of Lassie and Snoopy, Ecco the dog is one heck of an overachiever.

Today, the Smithfield pooch — full name Ecco D'Oro — is on his way to New York City to compete for the first time in the celebrated Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

For most canines, that would be enough excitement for one week. Ecco, though, is a breed apart. In New York, he'll perform double duty as both a competitor and as a travel correspondent for Everyday Opera, an online magazine.

But wait, there's more.

To help celebrate the dog's new foray into journalism, a photo op has been arranged starring Ecco and an accomplished opera singer. The dog and the diva will rendezvous in the lobby of Manhattan's swank Hotel Pennsylvania for a musical interlude. Ecco's already been fitted for a tuxedo for the occasion.

"Janet Hopkins, a famous opera singer is flying in to serenade him, just to wish him luck," said Ecco's owner and publicist Amy Hines.

Earlier adventures of Ecco were chronicled in a Daily Press feature back in October. When that story ran, Ecco had already made a splash, with 4,700 Facebook fans and a record of fundraising success. The dog's profile has only grown since then thanks to the tireless promotion of Hines and the inherent cuteness of her four-legged friend.

"After Janet Hopkins serenades us, we're going to do a little fundraiser for the SPCA," Hines said. "We're going to have a champagne tasting after that. We have a big fan base. People are taking Amtrak into the city just to meet Ecco. I don't know how this stuff happens," she said. "It just keeps going and going."

Ecco is a 2-year old spinone Italiano, a rare breed who competes in Westminster's sporting group. He's 95 pounds and full of energy. His exploits — detailed through the dog's Facebook page — include philanthropic activities as well as household misdeeds.

"While the humans were out, I slept on the dining room table," reads a recent Facebook post. "I kinda knocked over Ma's centerpiece and broke the base ... ate her bank statement, too. It wasn't really that impressive so I didn't think she needed to keep it."

That voice — silly, a tad irreverent, supplied by Hines — is what attracted Lori Lewis, founder of Everyday Opera. She stumbled onto the Facebook adventures of Ecco about six months ago and instantly was hooked. "His owner and I started talking and she had this great idea," said Lewis, speaking by phone from San Diego. Soon, Ecco had been enlisted to write about travel and food for the website. There, you'll find his pieces on Orlando's Diversion Wine Room in Norfolk and the Abbey Road Pub in Virginia Beach.

"Maybe I'm one of those kooky people, but I'm very willing to believe that Ecco is writing these stories," Lewis said. "I think most of our audience is willing to believe it, too. We all grew up on Disney, right? Animals talk."

Hiring a canine reporter is in keeping with Everyday Opera's overall mission to make the musical form seem less stiff and snooty, Lewis said.

Lewis made the connection between Ecco and Janet Hopkins, a mezzo-soprano with the New York Metropolitan Opera. Hopkins has worked to promote pet adoption and animal welfare so she was a natural for the assignment.

"Opera has finally gone to the dogs," Hopkins said, as quoted in a news release. "Ecco is an opera-loving dog and I am a pet-loving diva. Together we can bring attention to two of the world's greatest passions: music and pets."

For the month of February, she's donating 15 percent of the sales of her CD "Aria" to benefit animal rescue efforts.

"This is the side of opera singers that I want people to see," Lewis said. "People have this image of opera singers being untouchable and snobbish. This is a way of saying 'Hey, we're entertainers, singers, we have fun.' It's not this untouchable art form."

Ecco, as a public figure, is all about having fun and supporting causes. Through fund drives and sales of merchandise — including "Eccolini" stuffed animals — he's pulled in thousands of dollars, his owner says. He's been able to help more than 50 organizations and beasts in need.

"I'm in real estate," said Hines, explaining how she pushed Ecco into the limelight. "When the market got bad, it was killing me that I didn't have the funds to do things for other people ... All this has enabled me, in a bad real estate market, to redirect and be able to give without strapping ourselves."

Hines says she hopes that Ecco sets a good example for kids. "A lot of what Ecco does is to educate," she said. "We try to teach young children the importance of giving."